Grip and trigger arrangement for hand firearms



Feb. 24, 1959 T. w. LOCKWOOD I 2,

' GRIP AND TRIGGER ARRANGEMENT FOR HAND FIREARMS A Filed March 29, 1957United States Patent lice 4 I Prima .7 GRIP AND TRIGGER ARRANGED BENTFDR HAND FIREARMS Thomas W, Lockwood, Berwyn, Ill. Application March 29,1957, Serial N 0. 649,390 1 claimx tcl. 42 -69) This invention relatesto firearms, and more particularly to improvements in grip and triggerstructures for hand guns.

A main object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved gripand trigger construction for a hand gun, said construction involvingrelatively simple parts, providing increased accuracy in the operationof the firearm with which it is associated, and being inexpensive toincorporate into a firearm.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved grip andtrigger arrangement for a hand gun which enables the gun to be securelyheld, which prevents deviation of the gun from an aimed position thereofwhen the trigger mechanism is actuated, and which enables the firearm tobe held by the strongest fingers of the hand in a manner preventingdisplacement of the gun by knuckle action when the trigger mechanism isactuated, which often occurs in the hand guns of the prior art.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparentfrom the following description and view taken on the line 5-5 of Figure1.

Figure 6 is a side elevational view, to a reduced scale, showing themanner in which the gun of Figures 1 to 5 is held in the hand and themanner in which the trigger mechanism thereof is actuated .by thesmallest finger of the hand, thereby producing a minimum amount ofmovement of the gun when the gun is fired.

Referring to the drawings, 11 generally designates a hand gun which isprovided with the usual grip or stock 12 and the barrel portion 13.integrally formed with the body of the gun at the forward side of thestock or grip 12 are the respective forwardly facing groovedfingerreceiving grip elements 14, 15 and 16, said elements beingchanneled to respectively receive the first, second and third fingers ofthe hand, shown at 17, 18 and 19 in Figure 6 when the gun is gripped.The stock or grip 12 is thus held between the thumb and the threestrongest fingers 17, 18 and 19, providing a secure and steady supportfor the gun.

Connecting the lower forward portion of the lowermost finger-receivingelement 16 to the lower forward corner portion of the stock or grip 12is the curved trigger finger guard 20 which defines an enclosure 21 forreceiving the smallest finger 22 of the hand. Designated at 23 is thetriggering rod of the gun which is connected in a conven tional mannerto the triggering mechanism thereof and which is arranged so that thetriggering mechanism is re 36 provided in the channeled element 35,limiting the 2,874,502 Patented Feb. 24, 1959 in Figure 1. The lower endof the rod 23 is pivotally connected at. 24 to an arm 25 secured to asector gear 26 which is journaled on a shaft 27 secured transversely inthe hollow stock or grip 12, for example, having its ends secured inrespective inwardly projecting boss elements 28 and 29 formed on theinner surfaces of the opposing walls ofthe stock 12. Alternatively, thesector gear 26 may be secured to the shaft 27 which may be journaled inthe opposed bosses 28 and 29, whereby the sector gear 26 is free torotate ongthe transverseaxis defined by the shaft.

. Slidably mounted in the stock 12 below and meshing with the sectorgear 26 isa rack bar 30 which projects forwardly from the stock andwhich is provided at'its forward end with the forwardly concavefinger-engaging element 31 located in the enclosure 21. A coiled spring32 is connected between the intermediate portion of the triggering rod23 and a lug 33 provided on the inside surface of the stock 12 below thepoint of connection of the spring to the triggering rod 23, so that thespring biases the triggering rod 23 downwardly and hence biases thesector gear 26 counterclockwise, as-viewed in Figure 1. This biases thebar 30 to the outwardly extending position, shown in Figure l. A stoplug 34 on the supporting element 35 of the bar 30 travels in alongitudinal slot longitudinal movement of the bar 30. Thus, the lug 34engages against the forward end of the slot 36 in the position thereofshown in Figure 1, under the biasing force of the spring 32, limitingthe forward extension of the rack bar 30 to the position shown. When thegun is fired, the small finger 22 of the hand is flexed to move theelement 31 rearwardly, elevating the triggering rod 23, and causing theoperation of the release mechanism of the gun, to fire same. Rearwardmovement of the rack bar 30 is limited by the engagement of thedepending lug 34 with the rear end of the guide slot 36.

As will be readily apparent, and as above explained, the gun may besecurely held by the three strongest fingers of the hand, combined withthe thumb, and the smallest finger 22 may be employed to actuate thetriggering element 31. This enables the gun to be fired without anysubstantial knuckle action, whereby the movement of the gun is reducedto a minimum when the triggering element 31 is moved rearwardly by thesmallest finger 22.

As will be apparent, the movement of the smallest finger 22, in firingthe gun, is substantially in a rearward direction without producing anyadditional action ofthe hand, so that the gun is held stationary whenfired. In the conventional type of hand gun employing a lever typetrigger, the movement of the trigger finger causes the finger to move ina downward arc, which affects substantially all the knuckles of thehand, providing a substantial m0vement thereof, which is transmitted tothe gun, and which decreases the firing accuracy thereof.

While a specific embodiment of an improved grip and triggering structurefor a hand gun has been disclosed in the foregoing description, it willbe understood that various modifications within the spirit of theinvention may occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore, it isintended that no limitations be placed on the invention except asdefined by the scope of the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

In a hand gun, a barrel, a hollow stock depening from r one end of saidbarrel and having a downwardly and rearwardly inclined forward wall, anupwardly movable triggering element in said stock, three forwardlyconcave, vertically adjacent, stationary finger-engaging elements formedon the upper forward edge of the stock below said barrel and adapted tobe engaged by the first three fingers of the hand, a horizontal rack barslidably mounted in the -stoclc'and'.jarojeeting forwardly therefrombelow said r stationary.fingenengagingvelements,t a. rack gearvjournaled in said stock above said rack bar and meshing with said rackbar, a rearwardly extending arm on said rack gear, means pivotallyconnecting said farm to said-triggeringelementandithus;operatively;.eonnecting said. rack. gear to said:movable triggering :element, spring means connecting said triggeringelement to-- the lower portion of'the forward wa1l:of said. stockrandbiasing said triggering element downwardly andlsaidrackbar toward aforwardly extended position, a forwardly concave verticalfinger-engagingmember. rigidlyrconnected at its mid: portion to'the forward end of saidrack bar adapted tobe engaged by the fourth finger 50f thenhand,whereby-the force exerted on said finger-engagingmember will be directedsubstantially in axial alignment with said rack bar, a guard elementconnecting) the lowermost of the three stationary finger- -asmaoz rstoek and defining a guard enelosure around said lastengagingelements'to the'low'er "forward portion of the named forwardly concavefinger-engaging member, and

cooperating means on said rack bar and said lower portion of the forwardwall limiting forward extension of said rack bar.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSGermany Aug. 10, 1938

